


Somebody Should Have Had Your Back

by arizonafruitpunch



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamic bc DUH, Hybrid AU, Manipulation, Phil has wings i mean why wouldn't he????, Ranboo is just really going through it yk, Wingfic, basically a fix-it fic, god someone please help ranboo help the enderman boy, i wanna put the "no beta we die like enderman" tag but that feels wrong in this context
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28589103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arizonafruitpunch/pseuds/arizonafruitpunch
Summary: title from "Hurt" by Oliver TreeWhile preparing for what Dream has assured everyone will be the "Final Battle", Philza saves someone from obsidian for the second time.aka someone please help enderman boy he is struggling*everything is platonic because shipping minors is weirdchamp*
Relationships: EVERYTHING IS PLATONIC DONT BE WEIRDCHAMP
Comments: 6
Kudos: 287





	Somebody Should Have Had Your Back

**Author's Note:**

> i learned html for this. pls enjoy lol :)

Phil was looking for enderpearls.

Between the fighting, escapes, and repeated execution attempts, both of his sons had efficiently managed to drain his pearl supplies, and with Dream's promised "doomsday" approaching in just a handful of hours, he was sure they'd be needing them soon enough. While it certainly wasn't the best opportunity for a night of farming, the threat of his single life, ever-present in the back of his head, had not let him rest until he appeased such worries. That demand was what had led Philza out into the startling cold of tundra night, wings tucked under his coat so they wouldn't get wet and hat tipped low on his face. 

With End access cut off, endermen were harder to find than ever before. Considering they were in a wet biome, finding endermen near Techno's house seemed to be impossible (save for Techno's pet which sat forever in a boat, staring as strangers passed by ("off limits, Techno had said with a hostile glint to his eye)). Because of this, Phil now found himself walking the border between the tundra and the plains biome which he knew led towards L'manburg. He'd fled down these very same hills just weeks ago.

The gentle _vwoop_ of an enderman tore Phil from his focus. His eyes swept over the plains for a moment, searching for its source, but found nothing.

"Where are you. . ." he murmured, gripping his netherite sword just a little bit tighter. 

Another vwoop, significantly quieter, drew his eyes to the beach. He squinted, and just managed to pick out the purple hue of. . . obsidian(?) in the water. 

Tentatively, he drew closer.

A small trapdoor, blocking the water from getting in, obscured his view of the obsidian cube. An enderman could barely stand in a 3x3 block area, so why would someone put one in it? Curiosity got the better of him, and Phil took a breath before diving into the water. 

He hesitated at the trap door for just a moment, making sure his eyes were cast down in case the enderman was right there. The last thing he needed was to be stuck with an enraged hostile mob in a tiny cage.

Finally, the door clicked open, and Phil haphazardly fell into the enclosure. 

His eyes were not drawn to the scribbles on the walls, nor the mistextured obsidian at his feet.

A teenage boy in a worn and weathered suit looked up at him. Where eyes had once been heterochromatic, they were now a glowing, pupil-less purple. 

Instantly, the boy let out an inhuman screech, black-stained fingers tearing at the walls for an escape. Phil flinched away as enderman static filled the air, but crouched down in front of the boy.

"Hey, Ranboo, it's me," he whispered in the same tone he'd used with Techno as a young child. 

"Phil?" The boy asked, and his voice was only half human. 

"How'd you get down here, mate?" He asked, sending a glance at the water that leaked through the trapdoor steadily, growing dangerously close to the hybrid.

"I-I'm not sure. There was a flash, and then Dream was here and then- and. . . and you're not real," his voice distorted, a pitchiness Phil had only heard in the End creeping into his tone. He knew better than to touch a startled hybrid, lessons learned through Techno's own outbursts, but instinct got the better of him and he reached for the boy's hand.

Perhaps it was the years he'd spent reforming the End in his hardcore world, living among the endermen which drifted aimlessly without a queen. In that time he'd learned that endermen were gentle creatures at heart, only driven by the terror of overworlders relentlessly invading their realm. He felt no fear as the static picked up again.

Instead of pulling away, Ranboo only weakly squeezed back.

"I'm real," he assured him.

"What's happening to me?" The hybrid asked, his voice quiet but clearer than before.

"It's called being afraid, kiddo," Phil said gently. Ranboo shook his head, glowing eyes pressed shut.

"I've-I've been afraid. I was afraid wh-when Dream exposed me, and I was afraid when I heard Quackity say that he wanted to-" the boy paused, the enderman lilt to his words returning, "To execute me."

To _what,_ Phil thought to himself. The "traitor" in front of him was nothing but a scared child doing what he thought, and in a way, _was_ , right. 

"But you felt in danger, and your hybrid side jumped out. It's a normal reaction, I promise you."

 _When the human part of a hybrid begins to fracture, the mob side over-powers it,_ Phil's brain cruelly reminded him. He shoved the thought aside.

"I don't like this," the boy whispered. A tear fell from his eye and burned him just as fast. He flinched, hand leaving Phil's to wipe at his face.

"Will you let me help you?" Phil asked, carefully pulling the boy's hand back before he rubbed his skin raw. Phil never thought he'd have an enderman look him in the eyes, but Ranboo did.

"I just want it to stop."

"It will," Phil said in a hushed tone. "Now hang on," he warned, before throwing his last enderpearl through the trapdoor and into the water.

Techno opened the door, a greeting ready on his tongue as his gaze landed on a green bucket hat.

It fell silent as he noticed the figure slumped awkwardly under Phil's wing.

"Give me a hand here, the kid's tall as shit," Phil said quickly, a bit too preoccupied to offer any explanation. Techno hesitated a moment before accepting the boy into his arms. Physical touch was not his thing, and apparently not the kid's either.

The boy let out a noise somewhere between a vwoop and a grunt.

"What the hell?" Techno couldn't help but mutter. He set the boy down on an armchair and frowned as he immediately curled into himself. "I thought we said no more orphans."

"He's not an orphan, Techno," Phil sighed, despite the fact that, come to think of it, the kid had no parents to speak of.

Techno took the comment with a grain of salt, settling down into a crouch to examine the boy. Ranboo seemed to feel his gaze as all enderman seemed to do, and looked up. Techno didn't move, but Phil saw his expression change at the sight of the boy's eyes.

"Woah," he murmured, head tilting to the side. "That's not normal. What'd they do to make him go. . ." Techno didn't finish his sentence, but tapped at the tusks which hung from his mouth, and Phil understood what he was getting at. 

"I'm not sure. Said something about Dream-"

"In my head," Ranboo croaked, once again tucking into himself and pressing his eyes shut. 

Phil cast him a headlong glance before carrying on, "Right. I found him in a panic room."

He didn't mention the writing on the walls, eerily familiar to the verses Wilbur had scrawled in his last moments.

"Dream. . . as in our new ally, Dream. . ?" Techno filled in, his frown deepening. Phil held back an eye-roll.

" _Your _new ally. I don't remember being present for that conversation."__

__"Right," Techno brushed the comment off with a huff. "So what exactly is our plan here?"_ _

__"Basic human decency, Techno."_ _

__"Not a human," Techno reminded snidely, a grin peaking through his forever-sharp teeth. This time, Phil didn't hold back the eye-roll._ _

__"It's our fault he's in this mess. He doesn't have a side to fall back on since he wont pick one, and left to his own devices, you know what will happen."_ _

__The brief silence was weighted and ended the moment of ease that Techno's humor had prompted. Phil glanced knowingly at the black ink which had begun to climb its way up the boy's fingers._ _

__"You're really pulling this whole morality thing on me, Phil?" Techno sighed, standing up from his crouch. Phil cast him the same disappointed dad look that had carried most of his parenting years._ _

__Techno relented with a sigh, glancing back at the hybrid. A soft purple glow illuminated his face even as his eyes were hidden behind a curly head of hair._ _

__"What's one more orphan."_ _

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't posted on ao3 before so bare with me if this is a little scuffed. not sure if this will stay a one-shot or if i'll build off of it (likely the latter) but i hope you enjoyed! i speedran this so fast lmfao.


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